cowell



UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. GOWELL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

CASTER FoR TRUNKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,728, dated July 4,1882,

' Application filed February 20, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN J. GowELL, of the city ofNewark, in the countyof Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rollers for Trunks; and 1 do hereby declare that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeanduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and toletters of refer ence marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is arvertical section through thelength of the roller, and Fig. 2 a vertical crosssection through theroller.

My invention relates to trunk-casters in which the roller is hung in aplate having pendent ears or lugs which project through a plate on whichthe roller-plate rests; and it consists, first, in providing the platewhich supports the roller-plate with lips for bracing and strengtheningthe ears or lugs in which the roller is journaled; and, secondly, inconstructing the supporting-plate so that they lips thereof will bearagainstthe ears of the roller plate with sufficient pressure to preventthe two plates from becoming separated during transportation before thecaster is made part of the trunk, and, for the attainment of the sameend, in having the pintle or axle of the roller extend far enough fromthe ears to prevent the roller-plate from slipping up through theopening in the supporting-plate.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates a cast or sheetmetal plate, which I denominate a supporting-plate, and which may be thelower wing of a trunk-cornerclamp, B, having an opening made therein byslitting the metal, or by both slitting and trimming the same, so as toleave two or more pieces thereof free to be bent downward, therebyforming two or more pendent lips, C. Another plate, D, called theroller-plate, made of sheet or cast metal, is formed with two pendentears or lugs, E, usually made by slitting the metal so that the portionsbetween the slits may be bent downward, thereby formin g the ears orlugs,while the ears F, which form partof the plate D, being thoseportions thereof remaining after the pieces forming ears E have beenbent down, and by preference longer than ears E, may be bent upward soas to form ears G, that may be made to clasp the sides of the trunk ortrunk-cleat. The roller-plate thus constructed is placed over thesupportingplate A and the ears E passed through the opening therein, theears pressing tightly against the walls of the opening, so that the twoplates will be held together and prevented from slipping apart andbecoming separated during transportation. The ears E and lips G are incontact with each other, in order that the ears may be braced andstrengthened by the lips, thereby the better preventing them frombecoming bent sidewise by blows received during use.

The roller H is set and suspended between the earsE by means of an axleor pintle, I, extending through the roller and passed through holes madein the ears E at a point below the lips O, the ends of the axle orpintle projecting far enough beyond the sides of the ears to elfectuallyprevent the separation of the roller and supporting plates.

The parts constructed as described form a strong and compact caster. Theone plate braces the other, and the two will not become separated duringtransportation. The ears G strengthen the caster when affixed to thetrunk, the parts being fastened to the trunk by nails, screws, or othersuitable means.

Havingdescribed myinvention, what Iclaim 1. In a caster, two horizontalplates of sheet metal, one provided with pendent ears for the support ofa roller and the other with lips for bracing said ears, the two platescombined substantially as described, whereby one will rest on and aportion thereof project through an opening in the other, substantiallyas described.

2. The sheet-metal supporting-plate A, provided with an opening andprojecting lips, in combination with the sheet-metal roller-plateprovided with ears projecting through the opening in thesupporting-plate, and prevented from withdrawal therefrom by the axle ofthe roller, substantially as set forth.

3. A caster composed of two plates, D and A, the former provided withears E and G and the other with lips G, the earsE projecting throughplate A, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereto aflix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN J. GOWELL. Witnesses:

OLIVER DRAKE, I. J. INSLEE.

